Box Score HARRISVILLE, R.I. – The top-seeded Nichols College men's hockey team skated past fifth-seeded Fitchburg State, 4-2, in the ECAC Northeast semifinals Wednesday night at June Rockwell Levy Rink. The 13th-ranked team in the country, Nichols will make its second-straight appearance in the ECAC Northeast Championship game, hosting Wentworth Saturday at 1:45 p.m. The game can be heard live on WNRC 97.5-FM and live online.
After a scoreless period, Nichols took a quick two-goal lead with a pair of tallies less than a minute apart. Nichols controlled the puck at length in the Fitchburg zone before Andrew Ella (Schomberg, Ont.) deflected a slapshot from Jeff Bieber (Littleton, Colo.) through Fitchburg netminder Robert Vorse's five-hole at 3:49. Matt Roberts (Merrimac, Mass.) picked up the second assist by feeding Bieber at the point from below the circle.
Eric Cremer (Chelsea, Mich.) put the Bison up by two with his 10th goal of the season, ripping a quick from Munson past Vorse's blocker at 4:50. Ryan Gervais (Chicago, Ill.) set up the play with a pass in from the point to Munson at the blue line.
Fitchburg scored the next two goals of the period to knot the game at two apiece by the 15:22 mark. Andrew Hutton controlled the puck near the far post before passing to Bob Kaloustian in front of a crowded net. Kaloustian finished the play by slipping the puck under the pads of Nichols netminder Jacob Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) at 22:57.
The Falcons tied it up with a four-on-four goal at 15:22 when Travis Bertolotti found Matt Arsenault as he skated behind the net. As the Nichols defense collapsed in, Arsenault wrapped the puck around the net and stuffed it under Rinn's pads.
Nichols got one back less than a minute later on the power play when Glenn Cacaro (Sioux Falls, S.D.) rifled a shot from the right point that beat Vorse low on his stick side, marking the eventual game-winner at 16:20 of the middle frame.
Nichols scored an insurance goal in the third on an 11-9 shot advantage. Zach Hendrickson (Farmingdale, N.Y.) forced the puck under Vorse's pads after collecting a pass from Roberts, who skated it out from behind the net before feeding it to Hendrickson at the doorstep.
Rinn made 21 saves, including five in the final 44 seconds when the Falcons pulled their goalie in favor of a 6-on-4 situation after the Bison were whistled for a penalty. He improves to 8-1-0 on the season. Vorse stopped 29 shots in the loss.
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